Recent reports have unveiled the alarming and often trivial reasons behind executions ordered by Kim Jong Un in North Korea.
In the reclusive regime, citizens have faced the death penalty for seemingly minor offenses such as listening to pop music or nodding off while in the presence of the Supreme Leader.
One particularly startling incident involved a farm manager who was executed after a state-run facility’s terrapins died. Eyewitnesses say he was shot shortly after Kim Jong Un reprimanded officials during a site visit.
Some of the most harrowing cases involve secret “indoor executions,” where inmates were killed using blunt instruments, while others met their fate at the hands of firing squads.
One of the most infamous executions involved North Korea’s Defense Minister, Hyon Yong-chol, who was reportedly executed for showing disloyalty. According to South Korea’s intelligence agency, Hyon was killed in 2015 by anti-aircraft fire in front of hundreds of people after he fell asleep during an event attended by Kim and failed to follow orders.
MPs were told he was killed in 2015 by anti-aircraft fire in front of hundreds after falling asleep during an event attended by Kim and failing to carry out orders.
A senior military officer was also said to have been executed.
Elsewhere, the death penalty has been imposed for something as simple as making a phone call to South Korea.
The tape shows a public shaming session in a large auditorium, where scores of young North Koreans are lined up in front of military men and berated for their ‘crimes’
Pictured: A video from inside North Korea shows two teenagers being publicly sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for watching Korean TV dramas
Local residents are sometimes forced to watch gruesome public executions which are used as a warning against trying to escape
According to testimony reported by Daily NK, a 49-year-old stage lighting engineer was executed after being caught contacting someone across the border, with his death used as a warning to others. His family was then imprisoned.
Other cases highlight the regime’s sweeping crackdown on culture and religion.
The head of the Unhasu Orchestra – a group that once performed internationally – was arrested and executed for allegedly violating pornography laws.
A 33-year-old Christian woman, Ri Hyon Ok, was publicly executed for distributing the Bible, with her family sent to a political prison camp the following day, according to activist groups.
And new testimony gathered by Amnesty International suggests even schoolchildren are being executed, jailed or publicly humiliated for watching South Korean TV or listening to K-pop.
Defectors said consuming hugely popular dramas such as Crash Landing on You, Descendants of the Sun or Squid Game can bring the harshest punishments, including death, particularly for those without money or connections.
For decades, the regime has deployed a specialist unit known as the ‘109 Group’ to crack down on foreign media, carrying out warrantless searches of homes, bags and mobile phones.
Fifteen interviewees across multiple regions told Amnesty the unit operates nationwide, pointing to a systematic effort to enforce the sweeping bans.
Witnesses described how public executions are used to terrorise entire communities into compliance
One defector, Choi Suvin, recalled seeing a man executed in Sinuiju in 2017 or 2018 after being accused of distributing foreign media.
‘Authorities told everyone to go, and tens of thousands gathered to watch,’ she said. ‘They execute people to brainwash and educate us.’
Interviewees said newer South Korean content is now reaching North Korea faster than before, fuelling the crackdown.
Pictured: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) inspecting the Taedonggang terrapin farm in Pyongyang in 2015. A manager was executed after all the baby terrapins at the farm died, with sources saying he was shot dead shortly after Kim berated officials during a visit
Executions are believed to have taken place at the city-level State Security Department in Hoeryong City, North Hamgyong Province (pictured) – which is located in a built-up area
One escapee reported that after Squid Game was released in 2021, people, including high school students, were executed for watching it, a claim separately documented by Radio Free Asia in North Hamgyong Province.
Together, the accounts suggest multiple executions linked to the shows across different regions.
Authorities have also targeted music, with interviewees saying K-pop, including songs by BTS, is heavily policed. In 2021, The Korea Times reported teenagers were punished for listening to the group.
It comes after disturbing new details emerged of the extreme punishments meted out in North Korea , including prisoners beaten to death with a hammer and a pregnant woman executed.
The accounts are laid bare in a new report by Transitional Justice Working Group, which maps executions across the secretive state and reveals how killings surged during the Covid pandemic.
Images included in the report reveal the scale of the killings, showing suspected execution sites across North Korea including firing ranges near airports, football pitches and also in remote fields.
Execution methods vary by location, with many sites in built-up areas where gunfire would be heard, making the use of blunt instruments more likely.
North Korea dramatically increased executions during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly for consuming South Korean dramas, K-pop and other foreign culture and political offences, a report published Tuesday showed.
